Tigers third baseman Jaime Candelario reacts to striking out during the third inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Twins center fielder Leonys Martin and right fielder Nicholas Castellanos run to field the ball during the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers second baseman Niko Goodrum throws to Tigers first baseman John Hicks, not shown, during the fifth inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers second baseman Niko Goodrum strides into second after hitting a ground rule double in the sixth inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers second baseman Niko Goodrum strides into second after hitting a ground rule double in the sixth inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers first baseman John Hicks fields a groundout off Twins catcher Bobby Wilson during the seventh inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers second baseman Niko Goodrum high-fives his teammates after scoring during the eighth inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers left fielder Victor Reyes catches a flyout from Twins first baseman Logan Morrison during the ninth inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers left fielder Victor Reyes is hit with a baseball while diving back to first base during the fifth inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers left fielder Victor Reyes smiles in the dugout after scoring during the eighth inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press

Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario celebrates the go-ahead run scoring during the eighth inning of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, at Comerica Park. Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

JaCoby Jones needed that belt-high fastball from Lance Lynn late in Thursday afternoon’s 3-1 win over the Minnesota Twins and he needed to hit it as hard as he could, as far as he could.

“I know I can do it,” he said. “Because earlier in the season, I was getting my walks, not chasing pitches in the dirt, swinging at high pitches. I wasn’t really doing that so here, lately, I’ve been doing that.”

“Luckily,” Jones said, “He threw a pitch over the plate and I crushed it.”

Jones was once again the late-inning hero in another Tigers win. His two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the team their fourth series win in five tries at Comerica Park, and kept them in second place in the AL Central.

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Plenty of key contributors have left the Detroit Tigers in recent years. Here's a look at how 15 former Tigers performed in the 2018 regular season. Slash lines for hitters are average/on-base pct./slugging pct. Bob Levey, Getty Images

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Joakim Soria. Played with Detroit Tigers in 2014-15. 3-4 with 3.13 ERA and 16 saves in 60.1 innings with 74 Ks over 65 games this season with Brewers and White Sox. Brad Mills, USA TODAY Sports

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer. Played with Detroit Tigers in 2010-14. 18-7 with 2.53 ERA in 33 games with 300 Ks in 220.2 innings this season. He tied for the NL lead in wins and led the MLB in Ks. Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

Los Angeles Angels left fielder Justin Upton. Played with Detroit Tigers in 2016-17. Batted .257/.344/.463 with 30 home runs, 85 RBIs and 8-for-10 on steals in 145 games this season. Mark J. Terrill, AP

Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez. Played with Detroit Tigers in 2014-17. Batted .330/.402/.629 with 43 home runs and 130 RBIs in 150 games this season. Led MLB in RBIs. Maddie Meyer, Getty Images

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“When you come up to the plate late in games and you have success, it carries over,” he said.

The television cameras which he had grown so accustomed to during the first month of the season had returned. Jones didn’t know if they wanted him on camera without a shirt. It didn’t matter to him, or them.

“Having success late in the innings early in the year obviously gives me confidence today and going forward,” he said.

Jones needed confidence. After starting the season looking primed for improvement and perhaps a breakout season, Jones fell back into his bad habits. He has been too aggressive at the plate. Not selective enough in the strike zone. He’s not walking; he’s striking out.

“Always, what’s happened in those things, the mind gets out of whack,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Instead of, when you’re going good, you make an out, you just blow it off. When you’re struggling and you hit a line drive somewhere, it’s, ‘Why me?’

“And you gotta get away from all that. You just gotta go at-bat per at-bat and leave it alone, and sometimes I think he’s thinking through, ‘Oh, I can’t strike out this time.’ That’s negative thoughts. We gotta get back to positive thoughts.”

JaCoby Jones is met by shortstop Jose Iglesias, after hitting a two-run homer against the Twins during the seventh inning Thursday at Comerica Park.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)

The home run was Jones' fifth of the season. The athleticism remains off-the-charts, the defensive ability in center field elite, but the at-bats Jones has taken for a month and a half have not been professional enough. Gardenhire tried sparking him with a spot start in the leadoff spot last week against the Boston Red Sox, but Jones struck out four times.

This season, he is hitting .222 with an on-base percentage of .267. Walks, for him are key: He has walked seven times this season, as opposed to 64 strikeouts. Since the beginning of May, Jones has hit .200.

“I feel like it’s just trying too hard,” Jones said. “I’m trying too hard to get on base. I’m pressing a little bit. Everyone keeps telling me to take a deep breath, you’ve been doing this forever, just swing at good pitches and play your game and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

But everyone can tell Jones — one of the team’s lightning rods of energy — has been pressing.

“Swinging at bad pitches, just doing whatever I can to put the bat on the ball and that’s not how you do it,” he said. “Because I’ve been chasing. But luckily, he threw me a good pitch late in the game and I put a good swing on it.”

One swing certainly can put a good taste in a player’s mouth. But the only determinant of how much impact it had is with the next at-bats he takes.

“You gotta live with it and I don’t know what’s happened here before or whatever, ‘Oh, you might get sent down,’ I don’t believe in that,” Gardenhire said. “He’s a really good baseball player. He brings a lot to the table. Yeah, he could get sent down sometime if he went 0-for-the-next-150, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

“I love the kid. … But ultimately, he’s going to have to dig his way out of it and today was a start — he hit a home run, that’s confidence — and now, hopefully, he’ll build from there.”